Thinking Aloud

How can you believe that? Stripped bare, this is a question people have been asking me. As an educated, 21st century woman, assumed by the generous to be rational and intelligent, what drives my belief in the supernatural elements of Christianity? Actually, this belief finds its original basis in an unusual experience of God and heaven when I was ten. I realise it’s an unlikely sounding story. Yet, this extraordinary childhood experience has deeply affected my worldview, helping to shape the person I am now.Our stories are like that. They are precious to us and to some degree they shape us. Some are stories of wonder, others hold pain. They all leave their mark on us, for better or for worse. Some stories are intergenerational: histories of pride, or regret, of passing on wisdom.Isn’t it refreshing when someone is deeply interested in your story? When they actually listen, care and validate your life by believing your experience and exploring your interpretation of it? Most of us won’t make the history books – maybe a line in Ancestry.com! However, as we interact with each other, we have the opportunity to enrich our current society with our acquired wisdom.Everyone’s story is unique and special. Where our stories overlap, we understand and concur easily. But when they are very different and informed by sources and experiences foreign to us, they are harder for us to grasp and believe. If we can manage to suspend our automatic bias in these cases and simply listen, we can learn from one another. My worldview has expanded so much from what others have shared with me. It is a privilege to be either the one who shares their story and is believed, or the one who hears and is expanded by the new input.We can choose to be a blessing to one another.Let us hear and honour each other’s stories.

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Karen

Hi! I'm Karen, the Lane Cove Community Chaplain. I am pondering life here and in general. Some of my blog articles are originally found in our local paper, The Village Observer, and are repeated here because I would love to hear your response too.